Covert
by digthewriter
Summary: James agreed to be Scorpius's pretend boyfriend not realising his feelings ran far too deep.


James agreed to be Scorpius's pretend boyfriend not realising his feelings ran far too deep.  
 **Notes:** Unbetaed. Squint and you'll miss it, HD.

* * *

"So where are we off to tonight?" James plopped himself in front of Scorpius and eagerly asked. He was having a lot of fun with Scorpius lately, and always looked forward to the company.

"I don't know…" Scorpius said shrugging. "Not sure if this is a good idea anymore…"

"What do you mean?" James asked, concerned. They'd been hanging out a lot in the past few weeks. After Scorpius's boyfriend had broke it off with him, two months before the charity gala the Ministry was hosting — James had been on the mission with him. The mission to get his boyfriend back, of course. It had nothing to do with the fact that James kind of maybe had a crush on Scorpius and was using all of this as an excuse to spend time with him.

James wasn't delusional. He knew Scorpius was still hung up on _what his name_ — but that didn't mean that James couldn't have his fun, either.

At first, they'd showed up at the same cafes and restaurants together, and James would casually take Scorpius's hand in his and maybe even kiss it once or twice. And then, they'd been at the club. Of course, much to James's dismay they'd not done anything more than simply dance together but it was fun. And Scorpius looked like he was having fun. With James.

If anything, James hoped that he'd managed to take Scorpius's mind of _who's it_ — and maybe he had.

But now? Scorpius was refusing?

James nearly panicked. What was he going to do?

"Why is it not a good idea?" James asked, a bit defensively. "Don't tell me you've given up on…on…"

"Do you even know his name?"

"Why does it matter? I'm not the one he was fucking," James said, and then immediately cringed. "Sorry."

"It's fine. It's obvious that Nathaniel doesn't want to get back together and that's fine. I mean, he's send me a few owls and all but I don't think it's—"

"He's sent you owls and just now you're telling me?" James asked, surprised. And jealous. And surprised.

"Sorry, didn't realise I was supposed to check in with you."

"Right. Of course not," James said. "I'm not your real boyfriend. Not really." When James said that, he saw Scorpius cringe. "But apparently, we're not friends, either."

James stood up, unsure to why he was this hurt, and walked away. What was he expecting? Scorpius was his little brother's best friend. He wasn't anything to James. And James wasn't anything to Scorpius, either.

"Listen, Jaime—"

But James didn't wait to hear whatever Scorpius had to say, he walked away.

0-0-0

Two weeks later, it was time for the charity gala. Of course, James had to attend. It's what was expected of him as being a Potter. As the Potters, and the Weasleys, were expected to be at every charity even known to man.

James watched as Scorpius entered the room with his father, and James's own father stiffened up and headed to the bar. James shook his head. His dad was worse than him. If anything, they were both equally ridiculous, and obstinate, and maybe even hopeless. The Potters had a thing for the Malfoys.

Wasn't that just the biggest joke of the century?

"James," Scorpius said nodding once as Mr Malfoy stood next to him.

"Scorpius. Nice to see you. You as well, Mr Malfoy."

"Yes. Yes. Very nice," Mr Malfoy said, rather abruptly. "If you'll excuse m—"

"My dad's over at the bar if you were curious," James said in a hushed tone.

"I wouldn't—" Mr Malfoy looked at James and then at Scorpius, cleared his throat and walked away in the opposite direction.

"Gods, they're hopeless," James said.

"Hmm…I suppose the apple doesn't fall far from the tree…" Scorpius said, watching his father walk away. "It's pathetic."

"What's that?" James asked.

"I…" Scorpius's gaze turned towards James and he stood up straight, clearing his throat. "James. I must apologise to you."

"Uh… okay?" James said, confused.

"Well first, I want to thank you for your assistance with the whole Nathaniel ordeal. I'm grateful that you were there by my side, making me realise that I no longer needed or wanted him — and that I was a fool to think he was actually good for me."

James smiled. "I'm glad you feel that way. I never liked him."

"Well, yes. Thank you."

They looked at each other for a long while then, and James wanted to reach over, and pull Scorpius in a hug. If anything, he just wanted a reason to touch Scorpius. In the past few weeks, he'd made a random excuse or another but now that they weren't making Nathaniel jealous anymore, James had no right to touch Scorpius.

"Is there more?" James asked.

"Yes. Well, already in the beginning of our fake courtship, I'd realised I didn't wish to be with Nathaniel. And making him jealous wasn't on my list of things to do anymore. However, I continued to spend time with you under false pretenses — and for that — I must say I'm very sorry."

"Oh?"

"Yes. You see… not unlike my father, I have an inexplicable pull towards the Potters. Albus and I have been friends since our first day at Hogwarts, and Lily is more like a sister to me than anything else in the world. I mean, I even go flying with Mr Weasley, which I know, my father hates— But, above all, I have a very powerful, undeniable, attraction to you. For lack of a better word."

"Attraction," James repeated. "For lack of a better word."

"Yes. Well. Yes. And I fear that I was taking advantage of you when I continued our faux-courtship because well—"

"You fancy me," James said with a smile.

Scorpius said. "Well, for lack of a better statement."

"I think that statement suits me just fine, Malfoy," James said in a teasing tone.

"Wait. You're not cross?"

"Why? Because you let me kiss you in public pretending to be your boyfriend and now you're here all hot and bothered about how you do want me to be your boyfriend."

" _Boyfriend_?" Scorpius said in surprise as if he were trying the word out. "I said no such—"

James pulled Scorpius in for a hug and placed a quick kiss on his lips. "You want me as your boyfriend."

"Oh…" Scorpius said, relaxing in James's embrace. "I do believe that is what I want."

"Good," James said, nuzzling in the crook of Scorpius's neck before looking into his intense grey eyes. "I want to be your boyfriend."

* * *

 **THE END**

Thank you for reading. If anyone wants to translate or anything else, please contact me via email. I can be reached at digthewriter at gmail dot com.

BE AMAZING.


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